Kauai News

According to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, monthly foreclosure activity in Hawaii rose 34 percent in April 2010 from the previous month to 1,474 properties with foreclosure filings. This latest state total also represents a 115 percent year-over-year increase in foreclosure filings from April 2009.

“Hawaii foreclosures were up markedly in April and more than double from the same time last year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The largest rise was in auction notices, which climbed 67 percent for the month. Although the state’s unemployment remains low, home prices continued to fall further than the national average during the fourth quarter of last year, which is no doubt contributing to the recent rise in the foreclosure level.”

Hawaii ranked 33rd in the country in total foreclosures for the month. With one in every 348 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, its foreclosure rate ranked 11th among the 50 states.

Hawaii County posts top foreclosure rate for April with one in every 179 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 2.2 times the national average and twice the state average — Hawaii County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in the state for the month. Maui County came in second, with one in every 187 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — twice the national average and 1.9 times the state average. Kauai County was third, with one in every 313 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 1.2 times the national average and 1.1 times the state average.

Honolulu County led all counties in the state, reporting 581 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. Hawaii County came in second highest, documenting 445 properties with foreclosure filings. Reporting 353 properties with foreclosure filings for the month, Maui County ranked third highest. Kauai County was fourth, reporting 95 properties with foreclosure filings.

Hawaii accounted for less than 1 percent of the 333,837 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in April. Total U.S. activity declined more than 9 percent from the previous month and was 2 percent below the level reported in April 2009. One in every 387 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

The foreclosure rate on Kauai and in Hawaii can also be attributed to mainland buyers and investors defaulting on resort properties purchased over the past few years. As an example, as many as 46 percent of all Hawaii foreclosures through April 2009 were non-owner occupied properties versus 30 percent of non-owner occupied foreclosures across the rest of the country during the same period. The State of Hawaii has a high percentage of second home, resort and investor activity as a whole. It is important to note that RealtyTrac includes commercial properties, which include condo-tels and timeshares in the foreclosure data, and sometimes includes properties multiple times in the three-phase foreclosure process.

Foreclosure activity was provided by RealtyTrac® who is the leading online marketplace of foreclosure property, loan and home sales data. www.realtytrac.com